Japan enters Taiwan-China fight with vaccine shipments to Taipei Japan lures TSMC with US$1.8 billion plan to revive domestic chip industry US keeps up spy plane flights over South China Sea, in ‘huge increase’ from 2020 China’s most advanced lightweight tank Type 15 enters PLA Navy Marine Corps service U.S. sees sixth round of Iran nuclear talks and likely more Saudi-Russian cooperation includes construction of nuclear reactors, minister says Lara Trump: Despite Reports, 'No Plans' for Trump to Be Reinstated as US President by August Moscow Decries FBI Head's Claims Russia Harbours Numerous Ransomware Attackers United Airlines orders 15 supersonic jets to cut travel time in half Witnessing COVID chaos in India's hospitals, graveyards and crematoriums This is FBNC's June 5 morning International news Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said, Japan will deliver to Taiwan on Friday 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca PLC's (AZN.L) coronavirus vaccine for free, Taiwan is battling a spike in domestic infections and has vaccinated only around 3% of its population. Japan has contracted to procure more than 300 million doses of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, more than enough to cover its entire population. Motegi said, "At the time of the great east Japan earthquake 10 years ago, people in Taiwan sent us a lot of donations promptly.
believe that is etched vividly in the minds of Japanese people," Offering the vaccines to Taiwan could irritate China, Japan’s biggest trading partner, which sees the island as part of its territory and has stepped up military exercises in the region in recent months. Asked about Japan’s plans on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that “vaccine assistance should be restored to its origin purpose, which is to save lives, and should not be reduced to a tool for selfish political gains.” Though Taiwan's share has not been announced, the island will also be receiving shots under a White House plan for United States to share 25 million surplus COVID-19 The Japanese government has placed semiconductors at the heart of its future economic growth strategy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is at the heart of the plan and Tokyo will have been delighted that the world’s largest chip manufacturer has agreed to open a research and development facility in Tsukuba, north of Tokyo, The Japanese government has been in discussions with TSMC for several years Tokyo was disappointed earlier in the year when TSMC announced that it was instead planning to build a US$3.5 billion plant in the US state of Arizona, Schulz said. Undeterred, the trade ministry continued to lobby management of the firm and built an alliance of more than 20 Japanese firms that will take part in the Tsukuba project. As a sweetener, the Japanese government is putting up around half of the 37 billion yen (US$337.2 million)
but that will be a small price to pay if TSMC and its new partners can develop new chips At present, Japan has a fund of 200 billion yen (US$1.8 billion) set aside to promote the industry, although that pales into comparison with the 145 billion euros (US$177 billion) that the European Union has announced it will invest in digital technologies and the US$39 billion that Washington is allocating to chip manufacturers who plan to build plants in the US. The United States conducted 72 reconnaissance flights over the South China Sea in May, maintaining a constant presence over the disputed waters, a Beijing-based think tank said.
The South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative said in a monthly summary on Thursday that the number was a “huge increase compared with the corresponding period last year, which was only 35”. Military commentator and former People’s Liberation Army (PLA) instructor Song Zhongping said “The PLA’s military capabilities are constantly improving, and the US military is increasingly worried,” “On the other hand, the US military is also preparing for combat. Therefore, it has to increase reconnaissance against the PLA.
last month, US anti-submarine patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and a spy plane The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur was transiting the Taiwan Straitwere flying over the South China Sea, said the think tank, US anti-submarine patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and a spy plane were flying over the South China Sea, It said the aircraft were “probably providing the intelligence support for the warship”. Beijing called the transit a “provocation” and said it sent “wrong signals” to supporters of Taiwan independence. It said such operations had increased by more than 20 per cent for US warships and 40 per cent for planes in and around waters claimed by China, compared with the same period last year under the Donald Trump administration.
China's independently developed, most advanced lightweight tank, Type 15, has been commissioned into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Marine Corps, The tank, previously known to be in service with only the PLA Army and deployed for plateau missions, also excels at amphibious landing and fast reaction tasks, making it very suitable for the Marine Corps, A brigade affiliated with the PLA Navy Marine Corps received the Type 15 tank, which is characterized by a black panther logo on its turret, China Central Television (CCTV) reported The marines grasped the basic operational method of the new equipment within a month by testing it on the training ground, reading manuals and consulting the manufacturer, Having participated in many key missions including multinational joint exercises, escort tasks in the Gulf of Aden and the Yemen rescue mission, The Type 15 is the latest entry to the PLA's tank family, and made its first public appearance at the National Day military parade in Beijing in October 2019 Over the past year, multiple batches of Type 15s have been delivered to the PLA Army, particularly the Tibet and Xinjiang Military Commands that safeguard China's western borders with high altitudes and mountainous terrains. Thanks to its light weight and powerful engine, the Type 15 can operate under many challenging conditions while other main battle tanks cannot. This not only includes plateau regions, but also beaches, forest, water net-intensive areas and in urban warfare, In an amphibious landing, the Type 15 can be transported to the landing zone via landing ships, as the tank can provide strong fire support and cover for the infantry. It is also possible for transport aircraft to airlift the tank to the frontline for fast reaction missions, A Y-20 large transport aircraft of the PLA Air Force can carry two Type 15 tanks for long-range transport operations, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday (June 3).
The United States expects to have a sixth round of indirect talks on reviving compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and probably more, The European Union envoy coordinating the talks on Wednesday said he believed a deal would be struck at the next round starting next week, but other senior diplomats have said the most difficult decisions still lie ahead. Price said hurdles remained after the fifth round of talks that concluded on Wednesday as he did not rule out the possibility of an agreement in the next round. "We expect there will be a sixth. Iran refuses direct discussions with the United States - and the issues complex. "There is no lack of distrust between and among Iran and the other partners and allies Former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, arguing it gave Iran excessive sanctions relief for inadequate nuclear curbs.
U.S. President Joe Biden wants to restore the pact's nuclear limits and, if possible, extend them. Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation is currently participating in a tender to construct a high-yield nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia. The cooperation between Riyadh and Moscow includes their partnership in the nuclear energy sphere, On May 25, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a meeting of the Russian-Saudi intergovernmental commission that Moscow offers cooperation to Riyadh in the sphere of nuclear energy in third countries, He recalled that Russia has experience in constructing small reactor blocks for floating and land nuclear power plants, while the country is ready to communicate relevant offers in this sphere to Saudi Arabia if there is interst Saudi Arabia is currently looking for a company to construct two energy blocks for the first nuclear power plant in the country. Rosatom submitted its application in February in 2018 Companies from the US, China, South Korea and France are bidding alongside the Russian corporation. Earlier this week New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman tweeted that former US President Donald Trump has been telling allies that he will be reinstated as US president by August. The report came alongside former national security adviser Michael Flynn's suggestion that a Myanmar-esque coup "should happen" in the US.
Lara Trump, host of Trump Productions' Real News Update, has pushed back against allegations of her father-in-law being reinstated as president of the US. Lara Trump said "As far as I know, there are no plans for Donald Trump to be in the White House in August. Maybe there’s something I don’t know," "But no, I think that that is a lot of folks getting a little worked up about something just because maybe there wasn’t enough pushback, you know, from the Republican side," "So no, I have not heard any plans for Donald Trump to be installed in the White House in August." FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an interview on Thursday.
A great number of all of the known ransomware attackers can be traced back to Russia, The bureau is investigating nearly 100 different types of malicious software responsible for various ransomware attacks, Wray added, noting that the scale of the cybercrime could be compared to the challenges the US faced in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. US President Joe Biden recently vowed to review the threat posed by ransomware attacks after the US subsidiary of Brazilian meat processor JBS and the Colonial Pipeline, the nation's largest fuel provider, were targeted by hackers. United Airlines announced Thursday that it has ordered 15 supersonic planes from startup Boom Aviation with a wish to shorten the time travel from San Francisco to Tokyo to six hours, That's Newark, New Jersey, to London in 3½ hours and San Francisco to Tokyo in six hours, for about $5,000 to $7,000. A supersonic aircraft would cut transatlantic flying time by 50% to about three-and-half hours. But don't rush out to book a fare just yet. These flights won't be operational before 2029 at the earliest. Supersonics have come under criticism from environmentalists for burning more fuel per passenger than regular airliners.
But the new planes will be carbon neutral and use sustainable air fuel, currently priced at up to eight times traditional petroleum-based jet fuel. United and the rest of the aviation industry are eager for a new story to tell after an exceptionally bad year during the coronavirus pandemic. As lockdowns and corporate travel prohibitions slashed demand, passenger totals fell from all-time highs of over 2 million a day to under 100,000. Along with other airlines, United received government funds to prop up employee salaries during the savage downturn, including a $3.5 billion grant and a $1.5 billion loan. The new contract calls for United to pay $3 billion for 15 planes, with an option to add up to 50 more. The previous trans-Atlantic supersonic commercial airliner, the Concorde, which shut down in 2003, had $12,000 tickets and could barely break even after the British and French governments helped foot the development bill.
Covering the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic as it tore through Indian cities, India has recorded more than 28 million coronavirus cases, and daily new cases sometimes exceeded 400,000, although by Thursday (June 3) that had come down to around 135,000. On a per capita basis its COVID-19 death toll is relatively low, but deaths were rising while in Europe and the United States they are in decline. Patients died at home, in their cars on the way to hospital and outside emergency wards because there were no beds for them.
Two men wearing oxygen masks shared a bed. People struggled to get oxygen and the attention of medics, themselves overwhelmed with the number of new patients. Others who saw journalist’s camera urged him to document the pain their family was suffering. Some Indians said what made the devastation of April and May harder to accept was that they believed the worst of the pandemic was over in February, when the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths were far below today's.
In the middle of that month, the number of daily new cases was around 9,000. Election rallies went ahead, markets teemed with people and huge crowds of worshippers attended religious festivals. In much of the rest of the world, large gatherings were forbidden as governments fought to slow the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi resisted calls for a repeat of the strict lockdown he ordered last year. Instead he asked states to impose local curbs in the worst affected areas. The health ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the government's COVID-19 policies.
This is a battle with an invisible enemy, and it feels like there is nowhere to hide. When China first started imposing lockdowns on major cities to curb the spread of COVID-19, To guard against future disruptions, policy makers called for local authorities to build up reserves of critical staples and partner with food distributors and developers to build a network of greenhouses that can produce steady flows of popular vegetables right next to major population centers. Dozens sprouting up on the outskirts of China's megacities that utilise high-end technology to manage irrigation, temperature and lighting systems to grow vegetables within easy reach of a large and affluent consumer base.
The pandemic also sparked worries over the safety of wholesale markets, as the coronavirus was initially detected at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, ground zero of China's outbreak. Capital city Beijing also saw infections from a major fruit, vegetable and meat wholesale market. These are FBNC's morning International news Thank you for watching See you in the next FBNC's morning International news
2021-06-08